Basic Fundamental Movement Definitions

Quick Review before heading into my last year of physical therapy school!

Fundamental Movements:

• Flexion:   Movement of the part in the sagittal plane with the angle at the joint becoming smaller.
• Extension:   Return from flexion
• ABduction: Movement in the frontal plane away from the midline; for the fingers or toes, movement is away from the midline of the hand or foot;  in the trunk, movement sometimes called lateral flexion
• ADDuction:   return from abduction
• Internal Rotation:   Also called inward or medial rotation; turning of an extremity toward the midline in the horizontal plane;  (for turning the head neck and trunk called rotation to the left or right)
• External Rotation;   Return of an extremity from internal rotation
• Supination:   Turning the forearm so that the forearm and hand face upward when the elbow is held flexed at 90*.
• Pronation:    Return of forearm from supination
• Opposition:   Movement of bringing the tip of the thumb toward the tips of the fingers; motion takes place mostly at the carpometacarpal (saddle) joint of the thumb
• Reposition:   Bringing the thumb back to neutral from opposition.
• Radial Deviation:   Also called radial abduction; movement at the wrist with the hand moving toward the radial side.
• Ulnar Deviation:   Also Ulnar adduction; movement at the wrist with the hand moving toward the ulnar side.
• Inversion:   Movement of the foot so that the sole turns inward;  usually accompanied by adduction or turning inward of the forefoot.
• Eversion:   Movement of the foot with a slight turning of the sole outward;  Usually with some abduction of the forefoot.
• Dorsi Flexion:   The dorsum of the foot moves superiorly in the sagittal plane.
• Plantar Flexion:   Movement of the foot toward the plantar surface in the sagital plane; downward.
• Horizontal Adduction:   Movement of the abducted arm forward in the horizaontal plane (across the chest)
• Horizontal Abduction:   Opposite of horizontal adduction - movement in the horizontal plane back to a position of the abducted arm.
• Circumduction:   A movement possible in joints with 2 or 3 degrees of freedom;  the segment itself describes a cone while the distal part moves in a circle.

Fundamental Movements of the Scapula (shoulder girdle)

• Elevation:   The shoulder girdle moves upward.
• Depression:   The shoulder girdle moves downward
• Protraction:   Also called abduction since the scapulae move away from the vertebral column;  the tips of the shoulders move forward so that the arms are in a more forward position.
• Retraction:   Reverse movement of protraction;  also called adduction as the scapulae move toward the vertebral column.
• Upward Rotation:   The scapula rotates so that the glenoid cavity moves upward.
• Downward Rotation:  The reverse of upward rotation.